2019 RFP Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

In our best effort to make the process completely unbiased, we will be providing all of the questions asked with answers on our website for everyone to reference.

We will also be recording all questions we receive on the RFP during the Q&A session on November 14, 2018. They are listed below:

Q: Are we counting non-academic time as "out of school time? “

A: Yes

Q: Is there an “Intent to Apply” this year?

A: No

Q: Should designations be split equally? If our organization serves more people shouldn’t we get a bigger piece of the designation pie?

A: Good question, we will take this to our board for clarification and possible revision. As it stands right now designations will be split equally among funded organizations within the category.

Q: What about services in Orrville, Dalton and Marshallville? Can we apply to United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties only or to Orrville Area United Way?

A: You can apply for funds from either United Way. The United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties service area is all of Wayne and Holmes Counties, Orrville Area United Way service area is Orrville, Dalton and Marshallville.

Q: What if you do not have programmatic budgets, do we use the whole organizational budget?

A: Organizations are required by the IRS to separate operational expenses and programmatic expenses. Use your 990 as the guide if you do not have programmatic budgets available.

Q: What is the review process?

A: United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties Staff will do an initial review of your applications before submission to the Allocations Committees for review. During that initial review we will look for any outstanding questions or red flags and ask you to revise your application for clarification purposes. We are strongly encouraging the grant writer to not use internal language, acronyms or jargon that may not be understood by people outside of your industry or agency.

Q: For the days of service metric, we’ve measured number of days as our units, is that still relevant?

A: Yes, measure what you measure and do as you do for your service. Use the RFP to explain the metric in a few sentences.

Q: How do you verify low-income?

A: Free and reduced lunch, care source, income statements. Use the mechanism your organization uses to regularly track this metric internally. Please explain how you verify low income; this can be found in Part 1, Question 7.

Q: Fiscal Year vs. Calendar Year?

A: In the Request For Proposal it is important to notate what type of calendar year you operate off of with months included for clarification. Part II: Key Performance Indicators.

Q: Key Performance Indicators (KPI) per Program or per organization?

A: The Key Performance Indicators are based on program of request.

Q: Who should attend the clarification meetings with the committees?

A: We suggest the Executive Director attend the clarification meetings, along with the Grant Writer.

Q: What is the RFP due date?

A: All RFPs must be submitted by 5 PM on December 31, 2018.

Q: How do you request that we record the number of collaborations or referrals?

A: Use whichever internal tracking mechanism you see fit. What we are looking for is that collaborations and referrals are happening.

Q: In the Youth Development RFP, what is considered a Developmental Milestone?

A: Use the step-up to quality definition to define this internally, ir explain how your organization defines and measures success in the development of youth.

Q: If we apply for $40,000 and aren’t awarded the funds, will we automatically receive the next level of funding?

A: No, after awards are made, if any funds were unsolicited we will either re-open the process or invite organizations to apply for additional funds.

Q: I noticed that there is no separate word document for the Partner Agreement like there was last year. This year’s agreement is included in the PDF on the RFP Instructions as a sample at the end. Will you provide a separate Partner Agreement on Word that we can type our organization information into for signatures?

A: The partner agreements will be given out once the funding cycle is complete.

Q: Do you have the scoring tool available?

A: Not yet, but as soon as it is complete, we will post a link here. Please check back.

Q: Can you talk about the change to the specific grant amounts as opposed to the old system?

A: We thought it would be beneficial to apply for set amounts. In the past, you may have applied for $5000 but only received $1000. The cuts were due to the campaign numbers being down. This process was painful for both the agencies applying and for the Allocations Volunteers.

Q: Do we need to complete multiple cover sheets?

A: No, however each program does require a separate application.

Q: We do not have a volunteer Board of Directors, our Board is elected officials.

A: As long as no compensation is exchanged for this service, you meet this qualification to apply.

Q: How do you define “Early Childhood Education”?

A: For our purposes, we define this as birth through third grade.

Q: If additional funds are available, what will this process look like?

A: Once the initial process is complete, UWWH will re-open the funding process with additional specified amounts.

Q: How are we expected to cover, Q1 expenses for an ongoing program if we don’t know if the program will be funded again?

A: We are unable to answer this question right now, but will give it some thought and see if there is a solution.

Q: I was wondering if I should submit all of the attachments that were required with last year’s application?

A: The only requirements for this year's grant are those that are requested in the 2019 Request for Proposal Checklist:

Cover Sheet (one required for all applications)

Program RFP Application (one per program)

Program Budget Form

Budget Narrative

List of Current Board Members

Most recent W-9

Q: We had a question, if we submit an application and receive funding from United Way, would that mean we were a part of the blackout period?

A: Yes, the Partner Providers must adhere to the United Way “Corporate Push” August 15-October 31, by conducting supplemental fundraising endeavors outside of this window, in accordance with the following:

There shall be no solicitation of businesses, corporations, or corporate foundations within Wayne or Holmes Counties.

There shall be no competing social or fundraising events.

There shall be no capital campaign asks to businesses, corporations or corporate foundations within Wayne or Holmes Counties during this timeframe.

Q: Is there a Program Budget Form that United Way needs us to complete, or are we okay to format one on our own with the same column headings provided in RFP application budget template?